THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has been selected to the Pre-Final Stage (Prototype creation level) of the Union government's '#FOSS4Gov Innovation Challenge' with a prize money of Rs 1 crore.
The challenge instituted by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is for champions in innovations in Free & Open Source Software (FOSS). KITE's 'E-cube English e-Language Lab' project, which was inaugurated last month by General Education Minister V Sivankutty, has been short listed for the challenge. e-Language Lab helps the students in improving their English language proficiency.
In October 2021, MeitY had invited nominations for #FOSS4Gov from private and public institutions for accelerating the adoption of FOSS in government and to build Indian FOSS Ecosystem.
KITE's E-cube English e-Language Lab software has been selected to the Prototype building and submission stage (third round) of the challenge wherein KITE CEO K Anvar Sadath presented the software before the jury.
The E-cube English Lab is an app which can be used in an offline mode without the need for any specific hardware, internet or network. The app enables the students to improve their language learning skills in an entertaining manner.
A key highlight of the app is that it can be easily installed in the computers available in schools in a single click, through its own Wi-Fi network. It gives multiple levels of support for students to improve their hearing, speaking, reading and writing skills.
KITE is setting up E-Language Labs in all schools in the state, which enables license-free usage and in line with state curriculum and pedagogy, which would have cost the state exchequer a whopping `800 crore if any proprietary application of this sort was opted.
The general education minister had earlier declared that this FOSS achievement of KITE would be shared with other states and countries.